Charles Walker questions the Health Secretary about specialist screening services for women in Hertfordshire with high familial risk of breast cancer.

Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that women living in Hertfordshire with a high familial risk of breast cancer have access to specialist screening services in line with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance; and if she will make a statement. [120931]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) produced a clinical guideline for familial breast cancer in May 2004, which was updated in October 2006. As with previous guidelines, it brings clarity to the complex areas of diagnosis and care of women at risk of familial breast cancer, by providing recommendations for good practice that are based on the best available evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness.

The guideline recommended that women at moderate risk or greater should receive annual mammography. The October 2006 update added that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) be used in addition to, or as an alternative to, mammography. Additionally, the update recommended that all women should be offered standard written information about MRI examination consistent with the recommendations in the original guideline. If a woman is concerned that she may have a familial risk of breast cancer, she should discuss her concerns with her general practitioner in the first instance.

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